


i hope my heart reaches you

by kinos



Category: Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: M/M, this is Not a texting fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 07:45:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15262701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinos/pseuds/kinos
Summary: > Look! It’s a picture of all the people who want to date you.> [Shinwon sent you a photo.]Ha ha, very funny… <You do realise thatyou’rein the picture, right? <> I said what I said.





	i hope my heart reaches you

**Author's Note:**

> this is based on [this](https://twitter.com/ptgquotes/status/1013942254959054853) tweet and i tweaked the text a bit but yeah it was inspired by that so all credits for the idea goes to op!
> 
> it turned out way longer than expected and half of it (all of it) is really just hongseok being dumb but i had a lot fun with this, they're a really great pairing to write and i hope you all enjoy it too!!

**Today** 12:30 am

> Look! It’s a picture of all the people who want to date you.

_ > [Shinwon sent you a photo.] _

Hongseok stares at the message that pops up on his screen, squinting his eyes at the blurry square in the corner to try and figure out what picture it is that Shinwon’s sent him so he wouldn’t actually have to open it.

It’s not that Hongseok doesn’t want to talk to the guy, but he has a pretty rigid bedtime routine that he doesn’t like straying from, and everyone knows that. So while he’d be more than happy to entertain Shinwon at any other time of the day, the younger’s silly games don’t exactly fit into his meticulous nightly schedule.

(He can already hear Shinwon laughing at the fact that he even has a routine in the first place.)

Still, his curiosity gets the better of him, wondering why Shinwon is bothering him at this time of night when he would usually be asleep by now. And Hongseok figures since he’d cleaned up the dorm a little quicker than usual tonight, he can spare a couple of minutes to take a look at the message.

So, he opens up the chat, clicks on the picture, and-

“Ha!”

Hyojong bangs his fist on the bottom of his bunk, groaning out a rather grumpy, “Shut the fuck up, Hongseok! I’m trying to sleep here.”

He whispers a sorry to his friend over the edge of his bed, toning down his laughter as he turns back to his phone, eyes scanning over the photo again.

It’s a picture of an empty stadium, seats vacant, field bare, lights dimmed, and for some reason, Shinwon is in the middle of it all.

Shinwon, with the little dimple that pops out when he smiles wide enough. Shinwon, with the bright eyes that match the stars in the sky behind him. Shinwon, with the grey hoodie that Hongseok could’ve sworn he’d seen in his own closet earlier today.

He wonders when Shinwon had taken it. He wonders why he doesn’t mind.

Hongseok assumes that Shinwon had meant to say that there was no one who wanted to date him, hence the empty stadium and all. It’s funny, really, but he’s always been one to ruin Shinwon’s fun, just because he likes the way the kid gets all riled up when he does.

So, instead of giving him kudos for the good joke, Hongseok says:

Ha ha, very funny… <

You do realise that _you’re_ in the picture, right? <

Hongseok waits for the string of annoyed emojis, the _‘Fuck off, hyung, you’re no fun!’_ and if Shinwon is feeling extra feisty tonight, he might even get a voice message of the younger rambling about how everyone in their group is a killjoy, _especially_ Hongseok, even though they both know that he’s far from it.

He waits, watching the typing bubble appear and disappear for a good minute, but all he gets is:

> I said what I said.

Hongseok blinks. Blinks again. Rubs his eyes and blinks once more.

“Hey, Hyojong?”

He hears a grunt in response.

“Can you read something for me?” he asks, and the pillow that’s thrown right into his face in the next second is enough of an answer for him.

He figures he isn’t going to get anything out of Hyojong, so he reads the message again himself, pushing his glasses up to make sure that he didn’t read it wrong. When he’s certain that it’s right, that Shinwon had, in fact, said what he said, Hongseok sneaks out of his bed as quietly as he can, though he and ‘quiet’ have never quite gone hand-in-hand so the frame creaks as he climbs down, and he mumbles out another apology to his ever-forgiving roommate when he catches the edge of a glare from where Hyojong is trying to drown himself in his blankets.

Surprisingly, their dorm is already silent when he steps out into the hall, like everyone had decided to turn in early tonight, even Hwitaek and Hyunggu who are usually up till the early hours of morning, working until they can’t force their eyes open anymore.

He heads over to the room opposite his, poking his head through the gap in the doorway, calling out, “Shinwon?”

There’s a low whine, and Hyunggu’s sleepy voice carries through the dark room, saying, “Hyung, how many times do I have to remind you that Shinwon-hyung doesn’t stay in here anymore?”

 _Right._ Apart from him and Hyojong, everyone on this side of the dorm has their own space now, so he throws on an apologetic look, even though Hyunggu’s probably got his eyes closed, telling him, “Sorry, Hyunggu-ya. You can go back to sleep.”

He tiptoes back out, shutting the door behind him, and he makes his way to the dressing room that doubles as Shinwon’s bedroom now, not even bothering to knock as he pushes the door open and-

_Huh._

The room is empty, lights off, no trace of Shinwon at all. Hongseok remembers seeing him at dinner, and he usually just crashes in his room right after that, so where else could he be? If he was in the bathroom, surely Hongseok would’ve noticed that when he passed it.

He risks calling up Wooseok, relief filling his lungs when the boy isn’t asleep just yet, telltale sounds of a video game being played in the background. But he has no good news for Hongseok, telling him that Shinwon isn’t in their dorm, hasn’t come by for days actually and- “Hey, hyung, when you find him, tell him he owes me a rematch. I know he’s avoiding me because he doesn’t wanna lose again.”

Hongseok sighs, defeated, unsure what else to do because he doesn’t want to wake Hyunggu again to ask him where Shinwon might be, and there’s definitely no way he’s going to bother Hyojong for the millionth time tonight. But fortunately, he sees the glow of a lamp from the crack under Hwitaek’s door, and he’s glad to find that the elder is still awake when he goes over there.

“Not sleeping yet?” Hwitaek asks as he lets him into the room, gesturing for him to take a seat on the bed while he sorts out his things.

Hongseok shakes his head in answer, before he falls flat on his back, arms stretched out in despair, and he ignores the funny look that Hwitaek sends his way.

“I _was_ going to bed,” he says, blowing out a rather exhausted breath, a deep crease cutting through the smooth skin of his forehead. “Then Shinwon sent me a… _funny_ text, and I wanted to ask him about it, but I can’t find him anywhere.”

Hwitaek looks just as confused as he is, before- “Ah! He did mention he was going out earlier, but…” He glances at the time, frowns. “I figured he’d be back by now.”

“Did he say where he went?” Hongseok sits up, hope lighting up his eyes at the first hint of Shinwon’s whereabouts.

But Hwitaek only offers a shrug, saying, “I don’t know, I only passed him by the door, but I think he said something about a football stadium?”

Hongseok’s jaw falls open.

He scrambles for his phone, startling Hwitaek in the process, opening up that stupid picture again and-

“You’ve gotta be _fucking_ kidding me.”

It’s barely there, all the way on the other side of the stadium, blurry numbers in the corner of the photo, but Hongseok can see it.

**00:30**

The same exact time that Shinwon had sent the message to him, the same exact time that he must’ve taken the picture, the same exact time that Hongseok’s entire night began to go awry.

He can’t believe it, can’t believe that Shinwon is actually there, that he’s probably still sitting there right now. He can’t believe that the kid would go all the way there just for some silly joke, just to make fun of Hongseok.

He can’t believe it, but that isn’t going to stop him from going there too.

“Hongseok, what’s going on-”

“I gotta go now, but I’ll explain it later, I promise,” he tells Hwitaek, hopping off the bed, giving him a half-hug as a sign of gratitude. “Thanks, hyung.”

“Hey, wait-”

He doesn’t wait, he _can’t_ wait, and he rushes out of the building in such a hurry that his head spins by the time he makes it to the street. It takes just one more glance at the picture for him to figure out which stadium it is, silently cursing at how far it is from where they live, but the fleeting image of Shinwon’s smile is enough to keep his feet going.

The subway is his best option here, and he almost regrets not taking a hat with him on his way out, forced to keep his head ducked throughout the entire ride, just in case anyone recognised him.

It’s late, almost nearing one in the morning, but they’re at that point in their career where even a random passerby might figure out who he is with a quick search on the internet, and he can’t risk getting caught sneaking out of the dorm without permission.

Hwitaek knows he left, and Hyojong will figure out sooner or later when he realises that Hongseok isn’t coming back to their room, but he trusts that they’ll both keep their mouths shut, because they all know that he’s done the same for them at some point.

An entire lifetime later – it was only twenty minutes, really – and Hongseok is standing outside a stadium that’s vaguely familiar to him. He thinks he must’ve been dragged out here to watch a football match once or twice, and knowing him, it might’ve even been Shinwon himself who’d brought him.

He’s pretty certain he isn’t allowed inside there, especially not at this time of night, and while he might be known enough to be stopped for photographs on the street, he doesn’t exactly have enough influence to get him a free pass here.

So, he does what anyone else would do if they were in this situation, and before he knows it, he’s hoisting himself over the lowest fence he can find, suddenly grateful that he’d done some extra workouts earlier today.

There’s only one area of the stadium that’s lit up, so it doesn’t take long for him to find Shinwon, the boy sitting right at the top of the stands, a bored expression on his face as he toys with his phone, and Hongseok doesn’t know why his heart does a weird flip when he sees him.

Shinwon looks up at Hongseok when he finally makes his way over to him, that same blank stare settled on his features as he does, and all he says is, “You didn’t reply my text.”

Hongseok ignores that, too busy trying to breathe after his crazy stunt to sneak inside this place, and he asks, “How the hell did you get in here?”

“Told the security guard I’d buy him McDonald’s if he let me hang out for a while,” Shinwon answers coolly, thumb pointing at the bag of food on the seat beside him. Then, noticing the sweat on Hongseok’s brow, he asks, “How did _you_ get in here?”

“Climbed over the fence,” he coughs out, feeling stupid now that he thinks about it, and Shinwon must think the same, because there’s an awkward pause that passes between them, then-

“You’re an idiot.”

“I know.”

Hongseok takes a seat after that, slumping into the plastic chair, and Shinwon gives him time to gather himself, going back to twiddling with his phone quietly, or maybe it’s just that neither of them are sure what to say, what to do.

It’s Hongseok who speaks first though, because he’s the one who’d come all the way from home to interrupt Shinwon’s night, to waste time that should be spent sleeping. And what he says is, “Why did you send me that message?”

It’s a simple question, but Shinwon doesn’t know the answer to it.

See, he’d come out here in hopes that there would be a match going on, but instead, he was met with an empty stadium and an easily bribed guard, so he decided to stay anyway, just to have some time to himself, time he couldn’t quite get at home. But being on his own only made his mind drift elsewhere, to someone who didn’t usually fill his thoughts, yet all he could think about was how his alone time would be so much nicer if he wasn’t alone, if he was with Hongseok instead.

Shinwon isn’t a social type, he’ll admit that, but he likes being around his members, his _friends,_ and as of late, he’s been around Hongseok a lot more than he needed to be. There was no particular reason for it, at least none that he knew of, but the older boy played along with his antics and laughed at his jokes, so he stuck around him.

That picture had just been a joke too, one that he knew Hongseok would appreciate despite the fact that it was meant to tease him, so he hadn’t really thought twice about sending it to him. But he has no idea why he’d done what he did next, why he’d said that to Hongseok, why he’d practically agreed to the guy’s insinuation that Shinwon wants to date him.

All he knows is that his entire life has been a pathetic series of people telling him that he can’t do this, he can’t do that, and he’s taught himself to do the complete opposite, to just fucking do it, do whatever it is he wants to do.

So, he sent the message, he said what he said, in hopes that his heart would reach Hongseok.

And he thinks it did, because Hongseok came here, came all the way to him, so Shinwon asks, “Why did you come here?”

It’s a simple question, but Hongseok doesn’t know the answer to it.

See, his night was all set, dinner settled, dorm cleaned, all washed up. He’d practiced enough throughout the day to not feel guilty about getting into bed when he did, the proof of his hard work settling into his bones as he laid down. All that was left was his daily rounds of goodnight messages to his parents, his brother, their Pentagon group chat even though he’d already said goodnight to the lot of them in person.

Shinwon’s message wasn’t a part of his routine, neither was hopping on a train to a fucking football stadium of all places, and yet he felt the need to throw his entire night off-track just for the boy.

Hongseok supposes a part of the reason for it was because he was curious, wondering what Shinwon had meant by that text, whether it meant anything at all. It was nothing new, because they’ve been going back and forth with the teasing and the banter for as long as they’ve known each other, even more so lately, for some reason that he’d never stopped to think about.

All he knows is that he liked flirting and Shinwon liked being flirted with, and maybe he just wanted to find out whether their flirting could ever mean anything more than what it was.

So, he came here, came all the way to him, in hopes that his heart would reach Shinwon too.

“Fries?” Shinwon offers once he comes to the realisation that neither of them are going to be the first to admit what’s really going on here, what they’re really hoping for.

“No thanks, I already brushed my teeth,” is Hongseok’s immediate response, and it’s so lame, so _him,_ that the both of them burst into laughter right away, easing the awkward tension that had built up between them.

He takes the fries anyway, because Shinwon starts waving them in his face, tempting him with the cheekiest fucking smile he’s ever seen, and Hongseok thinks if he doesn’t shove those fries in his mouth right then, he might just kiss Shinwon instead.

Shinwon lets out a sigh once their giggles subside, once they’re out of fries, leaning back into his seat, arm pressed right up against Hongseok’s own but he doesn’t make any effort to move, and Hongseok doesn’t seem to mind it either.

“Sorry for making you come all the way out here,” he says then, eyes flickering over to look at the elder, a half-smile lifting his lips. “I didn’t think you would.”

Hongseok shrugs, and he nudges the younger’s side, mirroring his smile. “Don’t worry about it,” he assures him. “It’s nice here.”

Voice dropping to a murmur, head falling to hide his blush, he adds, “Nice for a first date.”

Shinwon doesn’t say anything for a moment, and Hongseok wonders if he’d stepped out of line with that, if he’d made him uncomfortable, but-

“Yeah, it is nice.”

He risks a glance up, wondering if the kid is playing with him, but Shinwon’s got that dimpled grin back on his face, eyes crinkled up, just like in the picture, and it’s enough to tell Hongseok that he means it, that this is what they were both hoping for.

But before he can blurt out something embarrassing again, Hongseok decides to change the topic, clearing his throat. “Oh, um, Wooseok asked me to tell you that you owe him a rematch. Said you’ve been avoiding him so you won’t lose again.”

He hears Shinwon curse under his breath at that, and it makes him laugh, asking, “What did you promise him, huh?”

“I said I’d take him out to eat if he won,” Shinwon grumbles out, clearly regretting it. “I didn’t think the punk would actually beat me. _Twice._ ”

That only makes Hongseok laugh even harder, wondering what kind of bullshit excuses Shinwon must’ve used to get Wooseok to let him get this many rematches when he could’ve just claimed his prize right from the first round.

“Well, you better win this time then,” Hongseok pretends to warn, giving him a playful glare as he does, sitting up properly to level their eyes, the tips of their noses meeting.

Shinwon matches his gaze, an equally as mischievous twist on his lips, and he says, “Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”

“Because if you do, you can take _me_ out to eat instead,” Hongseok answers shamelessly, feeling a lot more sure of himself now, slipping back into his usual teasing, and he gives the boy a quick wink. “Sound good?”

Shinwon rolls his eyes at that, but there’s the barest hint of a flush on his cheeks that betrays him, and he tries to play it cool, saying, “Sounds better than eating with Wooseok, I guess.”

A pleased smile spreads across Hongseok’s face. “Good enough.”

He stands then, stretching out his body, and with a sigh, he tells Shinwon, “It’ll have to wait though, because I’m pretty sure Hwitaek-hyung is gonna start freaking out if we’re not back soon.”

“But-” Shinwon is about to protest, to plead for them to stay a bit longer, but a yawn escapes his mouth, eyes suddenly heavy, so he accepts defeat this time, especially since defeat comes in the form of Hongseok’s hand, letting the elder lace their fingers together as he leads them out of the stadium.

Shinwon thinks the guard gives them a funny look when they pass him, probably wondering how he’d gone in alone but left with another person, but he’s too tired to care. Instead, he just clings onto Hongseok, one hand in his, the other wrapped around his arm, head resting on his shoulder even though he’s the taller of the two.

Once they’re on the subway, Shinwon is silently grateful that they’re the only ones there, but that doesn’t keep him from using the fact that they’re in public as an excuse to bury his face in Hongseok’s neck, finding comfort in the same scent that’s been wrapped around his body the entire night, mildly surprised that Hongseok hadn’t scolded him for stealing his jacket.

“I’m hiding so people won’t recognise me,” he says when Hongseok asks what he’s doing, his voice muffled against the elder’s skin, letting himself smile simply because he knows Hongseok won’t see it from there. “I’m famous, you know.”

Hongseok snorts at the answer, knowing that there’s no one there apart from them, but he plays along, patting Shinwon’s head as he says, “Okay, superstar.”

He gets comfortable then, leaning his own head onto the younger’s, tightening their locked hands, and it’s cosy enough that Shinwon begins to nod off, the smooth movement of the train and the low hum of Hongseok’s voice lulling him to sleep.

The twenty minutes that had felt like an eternity before feels even longer now, almost like they’re frozen in that moment together, their reflection in the window like a framed photo, vacant seats, dimmed lights, and Shinwon is in the middle of it all.

Shinwon, with the little dimple that shows itself even when he’s asleep. Shinwon, with the bright eyes that are just as pretty when they’re pressed shut. Shinwon, with the grey hoodie that looks better on him than it ever could on Hongseok.

Shinwon, who he’d been looking for. Shinwon, who was hoping to be found. Shinwon, Shinwon, Shinwon, and Hongseok thinks their hearts have finally reached each other.

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/ao3kino), [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/ao3kino)


End file.
